ON PENNA MODEL OF POPULATION EVOLUTION

Abstract

Computer studies of population evolution are presented. Numerical calculations are based on the Penna model. This model accounts for mutation load of individuals resulting in non-trivial age (a) dependence of the mortality rate q(a) which may be compared with empirical data. The Penna model is also very flexible for suitable modifications of the population evolution process such as hunting, genetic death, migration etc. Here we present some examples of the population growth for different evolution rules. Calculations require about 100 MB memory for 10⁶ population which is necessary to get reliable statistics. Typical running time for 3000 iteration steps is several hours for HP S2000 machine.